rice cereal

first bite

so today link had his first bite of "food" - and it went great! i was surprised at how quickly he seemed to catch on. i figured he would spit it all right back out, but to my surprise, he really seemed to get into it. and he LOVED playing with the spoon after his meal. he kept banging it in the bowl and then putting it to his mouth. i guess he knows how this all works! all of his time spent sitting at the table with us while we eat must have paid off. ;)

kappa rap

this is soooo cute. the current baylor kappas (i'm just certain they are still talking about the spring '97 pledge class :)) put together this little rush video, and I LOVE IT! so, so fun. makes me remember how oh-so-very, very, very, very, VERY fun those four years were!!!

1, 2, 3...4 months old!

link is four months old! we had a big trip to the doc this week, complete with shots - which are no fun, but lucky for us, a bottle fixes everything with our boy. he did great. poor thing already has a tooth coming in, and the doc confirmed it. i guess that just means we are one step closer to having him indulge in chips and salsa with us. ; )

so here are the stats:

length: 27 inches (95%)

weight: 13.7 pounds (25%)

head: 17 inches (75%)

so once again, we are tall and skinny. very good! i was surprised he didn't weigh more, but i guess he is putting all his efforts into growing tall...that's what the doc said, since he eats SO MUCH. he takes about 6-8 oz at every feeding, so almost 40 a day!

rice cereal is just around the corner. that should make for some good photo ops! :)

happy four month birthday, link! and thank you, thank you, thank you, for being the world's sweetest little boy. you have totally spoiled me!!!!!

playing on saturday morning with mom and dad

first time in the "johnny jump-up"

playing with chopsticks at pf changs

"eating" chips and salsa at mi cocina

some new sounds

today was the last day we will take link to "big church." at HPUMC the contemporary service encourages families to bring their kiddos if they like. that was fun until link learned that he has a voice. :) oh no, he didn't cry, he just burped (and this kid can BURP, like a MAN!) and made his new engine noise...he sounds like a boat in the water. i'm telling ya, this kid is ALL boy. cracks me up.

i finally took about four seconds to edit a few clips from the last couple of weeks. sorry, i promise for more effort on the next few, now that i know how easy imovie is! anyway, it's short, and only for baby lovers, but makes us smile. tomorrow makes four months!!! :)

followers

in order to get to know the readers of the blog more, we added the "follower" button to the sidebar. please join us so we can better know the folks who are checking in now and then.

sometimes i feel like the same two or three people comment (thank you for your comments!) and wonder if we have any other friends out there reading. i know that i read lots of blogs of people i don't know oh-so-well, and that's okay, just let us know you are out there. also in comments, let us know what you think about private blogs? i don't really understand why so many people are going "private" and thought i would ask...so please also let us know your thoughts in the comments section. is this something i need to do? thanks!

we are one week out from link's 4 month old checkup with the pediatrician. i cannot believe that his 4 month mark is upon us! as many other moms are planning to do, i plan to make many of these posts a part of link's baby book. so, i thought i would write down a little of what is going on as of now and then report back next week with his stats like weight, etc.

dear sweet, sweet link,

at 3.5 months old, you are the world's perfect baby. you laugh and giggle, cry, but just a little. you are so enjoyable to be around and so, so incredibly interested and curious about everything around you.

sleep: you've been sleeping about 10 hours straight since thanksgiving (you were about two months old). you typically like to go to bed around 7:30 or 8 and get up sometime between 6-7am. i am always very, very groggy, as i am not a morning person. YOU are the only thing that has ever consistently had me up before sunrise. and i love it. it's our quiet, special time.

naps: you take a nap about every two hours after you wake up. you play hard and crash hard. you love to have a few sips on a bottle before you doze off. you typically sleep about an hour.

play: you absolutely love to stand. you can already hold on to the edge of the couch and stand unassisted. unbelievable! you have been rolling over since you were two weeks old. your grandparents are convinced that these are all signs that you are a future heisman trophy winner. :) you love to roll around on your little gym and bat at your toys that hang down. you laugh and talk to them and it cracks me up.

books: you adore them. i hope this interest continues for the rest of your life. our current favorite is still, "we're going on a bear hunt."

bath: your favorite time of the day. you giggle and coo, smile at your dad and me as we melt into puddles on the floor at your overwhelming cuteness.

you have so many funny little things... i love going in to pick you up after a long nap - the way you S-T-R-E-T-C-H out your arms like you are superman as i lift you up. i love that you "talk" as you sit in your carseat, taking in the world as it flies by you out the window of our car. i love that you "read" your books and "talk" aloud as we go through each page. i love the way you hold your hand to your cheek when you are eating. i love your fascination with ceiling fans and lights. especially our dining room light that looks like low-lit candles, your dad has deemed it "link's light." it cracks us up that you already love sports. sportscenter (espn), football, basketball, it doesn't matter. if it's on, you tune in.

your eyes, your smile, your soft, rosy cheeks and tiny dabble of blonde hair...you are adorable. and you are oh-so very loved. with every fiber of my being, i promise to do all that i can to give you the happiest life that i can. i pray aloud with you daily, and will continue to pray for you every day that i live.

i looooooooooove you,

mom

in the words of fergie, "i be up in the gym just a workin' on my fitness..."

my personal trainer :)

so the new year kind of came at a unique time for me. our gym has a beautiful childcare center that is only $6 extra bucks a month...the only caveat had been that link had to be at least 3 months old to go. so the last few months workouts have been the bob stroller, link, a pup, and me, hitting the streets. jogging, walking, whatever i could come up with, but it all was reliant upon the weather and the baby all working out for me. lucky for me i live in texas and have a baby that loves to be outside, so for the most part, i was able to get out everyday.

christmas day link turned three months old. that meant i had an easy new year's resolution...get my booty to the gym! so monday started my life back in the gym and i LOVED it. i expected to be a bit hesitant leaving him for the first time with someone other than family, but it worked out great. the girls that work there are adorable and absolutely love having him, so that makes it soooooo much easier. and i have had some great workouts on the elliptical, the treadmill, lifting weights, and even got in a yoga class yesterday. whew! it's so great, and i am loving the time to myself and the great workouts.

so i guess i am back in full swing. i figure i've been trying to watch what i eat, so some good workouts plus a good diet and surely i'll start to look somewhat "normal" again. pregnancy can be tough on a body, huh?!? anyway, i just wanted to share out loud how thankful i am for our wonderful gym + daycare, and that link seems to like it, too!

i love being sore from a good workout. it's amazing that even if you've been jogging, etc, when you add in some different workouts you are in for quite a sore bod! but i take it as a good sign that all those muscles are burning away baby weight and getting me back in good shape! hooray!

happy 2010!!!

we had a great NYE and day. OU WON THEIR BOWL GAME! this is big, great news. we were so excited and jay was so happy that link watched the game. he really seems to love watching football on TV. go figure!

we spent the evening with family and with friends (thanks to hunny and papa for babysitting!). it was a really fun night with great friends and nice to get out again! we had fun at dinner with my parents at matt's el rancho, put the babe to bed, and then on to the party. thanks to grayson for organizing at park's new bar, celine. wow, that place is awesome!

this morning we all woke up and took my mom to brunch for her birthday. gotta love a new year's baby, and happy birthday to my wonderful mom!

we had so much fun and cannot believe at this time last year we were packing our bags for miami. we had no idea that the journey we were taking to see OU play in the national championship and enjoy some time on the beach would change our lives forever. :) my, how the times have changed. or how i joke with our single friends, "oh how the mighty have fallen." haha, that is definitely a joke, because i am already wondering why we were thinking we wanted to wait longer to have kids. this is THE BEST!

happy new year, all. much love from our family to yours. 2010, we are looking forward to you!

mary and me at bar celine

grayson, you are hilarious

the boys, ringing in 2010

hunny and papa like link - just a little bit. :)